


Fuck Cages, We'll Last Forever

by EverestV



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, pricefield fluff, the "angst" isn't really angst don't worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 22:15:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8941516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverestV/pseuds/EverestV
Summary: Prompt: I don’t know how to tell you this but the reason you didn’t see me in our last reincarnation cycle is because for some fucked up reason I was reincarnated as your dogMax and Chloe soulmate/reincarnation AU where Chloe reincarnates as a dog





	

> The tile is cold beneath the dog’s nose and paws and belly but it tries to ignore the feeling. Its tail is swishing lazily against the licked-clean food bowl at the back of its cage, its eyes are closed defiantly against the sound of the front door opening, and its ear points are drooping slightly in the quiet air. It’s been a slow day, just like every day.
> 
> But the opened door brings along new voices, new smells, new two-legs, and the dog stretches languidly before sitting up with a reluctance that makes its fur bristle. It waits and listens, sniffs at the air every now and then, and glances at the other dogs in the room.
> 
> They’re all pressing their noses against their cages, straining to see the new visitors, barking and yapping and begging for attention. Pointless. New two-legs always seem to stick to the front, where the puppies and kittens are. Not many head back to visit the older, bigger dogs, and even those that do don’t linger long.
> 
> Still, the dog waits and watches. Its energetic enthusiasm ebbed away weeks ago, but a deeply rooted instinct brings it to its paws nevertheless, just in case, just one more time.
> 
> A head peeks out around the corner, one of the two-legs. Their eyes meet, the dog and this unexpected visitor, and something prompts both to move closer—the dog with whispering paw-steps, the two-leg with unwavering direction.
> 
> “Hey there,” it says in a soft voice, a voice that rings in the air and separates itself from the racket around them until all other noises blur completely. The two-leg kneels in front of the cage and the dog presses its nose gently against the metal, waiting—watching—itching—this one feels different. This one feels right. The two-leg’s hand moves closer and the dog feels a whine inch up its throat. “How’s your day go—”

**_MAX._ ** The word, the _name,_ crashes into my mind like fireworks. Like a gunshot, like a train. Color pieces itself together like a puzzle across my vision. She rests two fingers on my nose and her name thunders in my head. **_MAX MAX MAX MAX_ ** **_MAX_ ** **_!_ **

I jump up onto my hind legs, my tail is wagging like crazy, I can feel every muscle in my body burst into life, burst into action, I need to get out of this goddamn cage! I need her to touch me again, I need her against my skin, I need her to say my—

“Chloe?” Her voice is all breath, like a laugh that’s not ready to come out yet. She leans forward, her fingers claw at the cage to get to my fur, my tongue is lapping frantically at her knuckles. “Chloe, you’re a dog. Oh my god you reincarnated into a dog this time. Wowsers, I...”

I can’t shut my eyes, can’t let her go again, can’t help but try and drown myself in her voice and her smell and her eyes and her colors and her smile, all of it familiar like the smell of my home as a kid—my first life, with her by my side, for the very first time.

“Holy shit, did I miss you.” Pressing her face closer against the cage, I lick at her nose and her chin and her cheeks. “I missed you so much, Chloe, all this time I’ve missed you, I swear, I just...” I know. She doesn’t have to say it. We go through our new life for months, years sometimes, not remembering who we really are, who we were, who is supposed to fit against the empty half our heart. But the second we meet, the second we touch, it feels like a lifetime of missing someone crashes into your chest and makes itself comfortable in the blank space behind your ribcage.

“But I found you again. I find you,” she pulls back slightly, fingers still rubbing at my neck, running through my fur like remembering, and looks me in the eye. “And you’re a dog. This is ridiculous.” She laughs, at least she laughs, and I’m licking at the dimples in her cheeks all over again. “I mean, this has to be against some unspoken soulmate-reincarnation etiquette, right? Do you think it’s because of all those times we vandalized some school property or other? Think this is the universe getting back at—”

“Wren? Found a new friend, there?” One of the other humans, one of her friends I guess?, comes around the corner and laughs teasingly. I join him with a few barks.

 _Wren? Her name is Wren this time around? Who would name their kid after a bird? Oh I’m never letting her forget this one._ But her hands are falling away from my muzzle. Her eyebrows are coming together, her lips are morphing into a confused line, she doesn’t turn around to face him and she’s not looking at me anymore. I can’t hold back a concerned whimper.

“Wren? Earth to Wren?”

“Huh? Oh, um. Yeah. I...I think she’s the one.” The guy comes over behind her and reads off the sign on my cage. I couldn’t care less. I stare at her and push my nose against the metal until she looks at me, until she snaps out of it.

“‘Fallon, German Shepherd-Siberian Husky mix, female, 14 months’. You know both of those breeds get pretty big, right? Fallon, here, is gonna need a ton of exercise and—”

“Chloe.”

“What?”

Her fingers return to the scruff of my neck, slowly, but they don’t move. They just dig deep, clinging to my fur, trying to hide shaking hands. “Her name is Chloe. I’m...I’m gonna name her Chloe.”

“Right. If you say so.” He shrugs. “Chloe’s gonna need a lot of food and a lot of attention. She’s probably stubborn, overly playful, and who knows how well-trained she is. I doubt your tiny apartment can handle her type.” His rough hand reaches forward and pats my head, making my ears go flat. I try to ignore it. “She’s cute, sure, but I think you should stick to that little tabby kitten in—”

“No. I want _her_ . I’m taking her home.” I can see it in her wobbling lip, her wobbling eyes. She hates whining like this, she always has. Hates when people look over her head or dismiss her with a polite smile or pat her back and force her into the sidelines. I’m tempted to glare at him and growl with teeth bared...but I’m not dragging my eyes from her. _I’m here. I’m right here. This guy's an asshole, I know, but I’m here. Sort of. I am a dog, I am in a cage, but I— fuck, Max, could you get me out of this cage already?!_

I bark softly, nudge at her arms with my nose, paw at the metal between us. It takes her a minute but eventually she nods apologetically.

“Hey, um, can you get the girl at the front to open this cage?” She turns to him, meets his disapproving gaze with a reinforced steel to her voice. “I’m serious, I’m taking her home.” He mumbles something under his breath, shakes his head, but leaves.

In the newfound quiet, I fall back down to all fours, my hind legs spent. I sit against the cold tile so my side is pressing against the front of the cage, so her hands can explore the fur on my back, the skin on my belly, and I’m craning my head to push my nose past the metal, push toward her. I let my muscles relax, I let myself drink in this single moment. I stare deep into her eyes, trying to memorize all its new facets, stare up and down her cheekbones, trying to find at least one freckle against this new skin of hers. Cross-legged on the floor, she’s looking over my shoulder.

“Oh Chloe...” Her voice sounds like cracking glass and I can feel my shoulders rise, refocusing on her expression in alarm. “I’m sorry I took so long. You had to stay in this cage all this time and...I’m sorry I didn’t—“

I cut her off with a sharp bark and whirl around to face her, jumping up on all fours. _We agreed not to do this!,_ I’m struggling to make my thoughts apparent. _We agreed that once we were back, we’d look forward. Only forward, not back. You can’t rewind time anymore, so stop wishing you could. Everything’s okay now, everything’s—_

“So I hear Fallon has a fan?” I remember this chippy girl. Unfortunately. She works here, works the front desk and feeds the little ones every now and then. She barely comes back here, she’s too jumpy, too weak-willed to handle the older dogs. I can see straight through her smile, see the hesitation resting beneath, and wish I could roll my eyes at her shaky approach. “Most people adopt our younger guys. It’s nice when the older ones get some love, though.” She’s fumbling with the door lock and I sit back obediently, keeping my eyes locked on Max. Only Max.

I let the girl reach forward with the control pole, let her loop the noose around my neck, let her guide me out of the cage. I wait until she clips on a collar, clips on a leash, gives the other end to Max, but then everything’s free game.

I spring forward into Max’s ready arms and nuzzle close against her neck. She wraps her arms around my middle, squeezes tight, and I can’t help the small yelps I press into her shoulder like kisses. _Kissing! Goddammit, I can’t...screw it._ I lean backward just enough to start licking at her face, lapping at her forehead and eyes and cheeks and nose and chin and lips occasionally and she’s spluttering and laughing and trying to keep my wiggling body secure in her lap.

“Aw, gross, Chloe!” She protests, her voice hitching in between laughs that crash together in her chest. “You’re so slobbery! Ugh, you...you can’t just...fine, fine, I give up! I surrender!” Her laugh is the most beautiful thing in the world, my heightened hearing ascending the sound to pure music. Because I do remember music. I remember every night that we spent dancing away to a bedroom hi-fi, feeling like nothing in the world could break us apart. I wonder if she’s thinking the same thing.

“I’ll start on the paperwork for you. Take your time.” The guy pats Max’s shoulder and walks away with the other girl, leaving the two of us alone and free.

I stop licking and look at her, attempting a worthy-enough smile among awkward lips and interrupting teeth. She smiles back, accepts the gesture, squeezes my sides. “Glad you’re back, partner in time.”

_Right back at you, partner in crime. Didn’t I tell you we would last forever?_

\---

I try to make myself comfortable in her lap, try not to squirm too much. She’s straining to look over my back at the computer screen and I’m struggling to keep my balance on her legs. I rest my jaw on the top of her shoulder with a sigh.

“I know, Chloe. I know I promised this wouldn’t take long, but it’s getting ridiculous. How could I have forgotten the password? It’s never happened before, everything’s always come back once we met.” I’m surprised she hasn’t tried button-mashing yet, but that would probably just be me. I let out a small wine, urging her to give up on trying to get into the email account we’ve always used..

“Just a few more tries, Chloe, okay? I swear. I have to...I have to remember. I hate... _missing_ stuff like this. I hate it. I wish you could just tell me, make things right again.”

 _I can scream your name all I want._ ** _MAX MAX MAX MAX_** ** _MAX_** ** _!_** **_Max, wake_** ** _up_** ** _! Max you have to remember! Your name is Max! Your name is_** ** _MAX_** ** _!_** _But it won’t help. I can’t speak, I can’t fix this. I’m here and you’re here but it won’t fix this, I know. I’m sorry. Believe me, being a dog isn’t a walk in the park. Ha. Dog joke. Wish you would’ve heard that one._

Max flips the laptop closed, harder than necessary. I press closer against her. “I’ll just...I’ll try tomorrow. Maybe it’ll come to me in the morning. Right? You never know. Come on,” she rubs a few circles into my back and I jump off her lap. “Let’s just go to bed.”

As she goes to her closet to change, I scramble onto our mattress and lay on my back, paws tucked in close and eyes tracing the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. _She’s such a dork. She’s_ my _little dork. My Mad Max._

I close my eyes, wait until her weight is settled next to me, until she pulls a sheet over the both of us, until her arms fit around my sides and her cheek rests against my fur.

She takes a deep breath. “We’ll figure all this out, right? When a door closes, a window opens... Or, something like that. Right? I mean, at least we’re in the same country. At least we can understand the same language. We’ve been through worse.” I nod against the top of her head, press my nose to her forehead.

“Yeah, we’ll be okay. We’ll be alright.” Silence stretches and I wait to hear her soft breathing in its distinct rhythmic cycle. Laying on my back feels weird in this body, it takes me long to fall asleep now. I almost wish—

“You know,” she interrupts the quiet and I flick my ears. “We should take you to a groomer’s tomorrow. Cute and fluffy or not, you don’t smell the best anymore.” Growling playfully, I nip at her clothes and roll on top of her until she’s laughing, until she sounds whole again and the strain of a frown lifts from her lips. “Stop, stop, I surrender, I surrender! It’s so not fair that you can still tickle me. Being a dog and all, you _like_ when I touch your stomach. Totally unfair advantage.”

I roll off her and lick her cheek, just once, just to sign her treaty. She leans over to kiss my forehead and make herself comfortable again.

_If you take me on a walk before the groomer’s, maybe I can try to spell your name in the dirt again. It could work this time. And then, different species or not, we’ll be okay again. I promise._


End file.
